


Simple Actions

by Zavoj



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-18
Updated: 2015-08-18
Packaged: 2018-04-15 11:24:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,025
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4604901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zavoj/pseuds/Zavoj
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ever since that day, Jack just couldn't leave you alone.</p>
<p>Reader/Jack Frost<br/>One-Shot.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Simple Actions

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for a Holiday FicTrade in 2012 on Lunaescence to the prompt: Something always brings me back to you
> 
> It is originally posted on my Luna account, Shade.

The first time that Jack Frost laid eyes on you, you were five. You were part of a snowball fight that he'd started with one magical snowball. The older kids, all eleven or twelve, were completely ignoring you, but you were chasing after your older sister like a lost puppy, dodging snowballs and throwing them back. There were no teams in the game, but alliances had been formed without you, and eventually, it was all the older kids ganged up on you.

"Go away! You're so annoying!" one of the neighbor boys yelled at you as he threw a well aimed snowball. It hit you square in the chest with enough force to knock you down.

"Yeah! Just go home!" your sister chimed in, throwing another snowball at you. Cold, hard slush connected with the back of your head, right below where your hat ended and jacket hadn't started. She didn't throw it as hard as the boy, but the slap of the ice stung, and the cold stream of water that ran down your neck made you whimper. Another snowball connected with your cheek, and you burst into tears. You scrambled to your feet and ran crying back to your house.

Jack watched the scene with mild interest until they'd started bullying you. When you ran away crying, he landed in the middle. "Come on guys! That's not fun! That's just downright mean!"

His half hearted scolding fell upon the deaf ears of children who didn't believe in him. And when a snowball flew past his ear, the little girl crying on the porch a couple houses down didn't seem all that important. He scooped up snow and went right along with them, throwing snowballs, and dodging ones thrown his way.

Alas, the game ended before he was done with his fun, and the children headed home. Only a couple minutes later, you peaked out of the bushes, your eyes darting back and forth cautiously as you emerged. The older kids scared you, with their hard snowballs and fast pitches.

To Jack, you looked completely pathetic: still sniffling, a bruise already forming on your cheek where the snowball had collided. He had been about ready to leave, but the sight of you alone in the field, big puffy pink coat and all, gave him pause. He didn't understand why; you looked the opposite of fun at that moment as you finally stopped looking around and darted to the middle of the field.

There were better ways to spend his time, but when you started digging in the snow, he left his perch on the nearby telephone wire in favor of a place by your side. As he stood there, leaning on his staff and watching you, your hand passed through his ankle in your desperate frenzy.

"Where are you?" you asked, digging frantically at the snow. "You can't be lost. Please don't be lost!"

"Whatcha lookin for, squirt?" he asked, knowing he wouldn't get an answer.

"It's not here…" you whispered as more tears fell down your cheeks. You began to wail until your mom came down the street to get you. Even though you were five, your mom picked you up and carried you home.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Once the snow melts, we'll find your bear."

Jack didn't remember seeing you with a bear, and far be it for him to spend his entire night looking! He had mischief to make! School days to cancel, snowball fights to start, windows to frost, lakes to freeze, trees to ruffle in the wind, and maybe a few branches to break. There wasn't any time to search for this 'bear'. But he felt bad as he watched your mom carry you home.

The other kids had been bullying you pretty badly. Jack scuffed at the snow with his toes, and one hit something unusually wet for snow. The white haired teenager crouched down, staff in one hand, and brushed snow away until a little magenta pocket teddy bear looked up at him. It was an ugly, tattered thing, but it was a bear.

 

When you woke up the next morning, a very frosty teddy bear was stuck to the outside of your window. "MOM!" you screamed happily, putting a hand to the glass. "MOMMY! He's here! He's here!"

Your mom came into the room and frowned at the window. How that little bear had gotten stuck to the outside of your window puzzled her.

"Must have been Jack Frost," she said absently. Luckily, your room was on the first floor, and the two of you walked around back to unstick your teddy bear from the window.

"Who's Jack Frost, mommy?" you asked, bouncing up and down.

"He's in charge of winter. He makes it snow," your mom replied. "And it looks like he saved your teddy bear, too."

As your mom handed you the little magenta stuffed animal, your eyes went wide, and your cradled it to your bruised cheek lovingly. It was freezing and wet, but it was home with you, where it belonged.

~*~

"I'm telling you guys, it just seems weird. People didn't start reporting that snowflakes had different designs until about three hundred years ago. Don't you find that odd?" you asked your friends as you walked home from school.

"Maybe they just never noticed," your friend replied.

"But how could they not notice?" you queried.

"Easy. They had better things to do." Your two friends snickered at you.

"Fine. But don't you think it's also weird that it coincides with when Jack Frost legends started cropping up?"

"Jack Frost this, Jack Frost that. You're obsessed. For Christ's sake, you're _seventeen_. Grow up!"

"But…" You bit your bottom lip before continuing, "He could exist, guys!"

"What _ever_. We'll catch you later, Frosty~!"

"Stop calling me that!" you called after your two friends as they ran ahead, laughing. "I know he exists," you added under your breath.

You pulled the tattered magenta bear from your pocket and stroked its chest. It had lost its left eye, and right ear, and the embroidery of the nose was beginning to fray, but it was the last thing your father had given you before going off to serve your country. You'd never seen him again, and you'd almost lost the bear, but Jack Frost had given it back. He HAD to be real.

 

Gray eyes watched you curiously from behind a tree. Jack came back every year to check on you, and as you grew older, you believed in him more and more. His personalized designs on your window on Christmas mornings certainly helped to keep that faith strong. But he was afraid to try and talk to you. What if you didn't believe in him? He wasn't sure he could take it. Not you. At least if he hid, he could pretend you believed in him.

When you got home, he watched you doing homework for a little bit through your bedroom window. He liked to check and make sure there weren't any bruises on your pretty face like there'd been the night he'd frozen the teddy bear to your window. He liked to check on your more and more often as you grew up. He wasn't sure why, but it didn't matter. He liked how human you were; you had a life, just like he wanted. Who wanted to be Jack Frost? All alone and forgotten.

"Hey! Who are you?" you asked, glancing up from your history textbook, and noticing the teenager standing in your window. He wore a navy blue hoodie covered in frost and carried a staff much like a shepherd would have.

"Who? Me?" he asked, pointing at himself.

"Is there anyone else out there?" you asked. You knew you should have been more perturbed by this boy snooping around, but he seemed really familiar. Almost like an old friend. This was weird. You'd never seen him before. Of that, you were almost positive.

"Jack Frost," he told you. You rolled your eyes and went back to reading.

"Very funny. Which one sent you? Kaylee or Molly?" Your friends hated your obsession with Jack Frost, and did everything in their power to make fun of you. Their newest stunt took dedication though. He was a very impressive looking young man; they probably paid him a lot to play the part.

"No seriously! I'm Jack Frost!" the boy insisted. "I can show you!"

"Alright. Show me," you replied, getting off your bed and walking over to the window. You crossed your arms and waited for something to happen.

The boy grinned at you and tapped his staff to the window. Frost curled out from the spot the staff touched. "This is what I do every Christmas," he told you, grinning. He puffed up his chest with pride as you gaped at him.

"You… you're _real_!"

You'd been talking through the window, but you slid the window open to a blast of cold air. "You're _real_!" you said again. This couldn't be a joke; how would he know about the Christmas morning frost patterns? You'd told no one about those.

He chuckled happily and scratched the back of his head. "Yup!"

"You don't understand. I have to tell everybody! You have to come with me! They'll believe me once they see you!" you told him.

"Uh… That won't –" Jack began, but you talked over him.

"Stay right there! I'll be right outside! Just, don't go away!"

Jack watched as you pulled on furry snow boots, grabbed your coat, and dashed out of your bedroom door. Seconds later, you came around the corner, panting from your sprint out of the house.

"Good! You're still here!" you said, straightening.

Jack chuckled nervously. Now that somebody actually _could_ see him, he wasn't sure what to do… his people skills were very rusty, he had only the kangaroo with over sized ears and the yeti minions of the big guy to interact with for the past three hundred years.

"Still here," he replied.

"You have to come with me to see my friends!" you told him, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards the sidewalk in the front of your house. His hand was freezing in yours, but it wasn't surprising considering that he _was_ in charge of winter.

Jack, however, was caught by surprise by how warm your hand was in his as you pulled him forward. He forgot for a moment that your friends wouldn't see him as he followed you around to the front of the house. When he collected his wits, he dug in his heels and staff, bringing you to a stop.

"What's wrong?" you asked him, turning around to look at the young man.

"They won't see me."

"What are you talking about? You're right here! Of course they'll see you!"

Jack shook his head and kicked at the ground. His shoulders slumped, and he wouldn't look at you. You dropped his hand.

"Why won't they see you?"

"Only people who believe in me can see me."

"That's ridiculous!"

Jack tapped the long wooden staff against his shoulder a couple times before looking up at you. "It's not. It's the truth. Until recently, you're the only one who believed in me."

"How do you know that?" you asked.

"I've… uh…" Jack flushed, which surprised you considering how cold his hand had been. "I've visited you more than a few times. After the teddy bear, I knew you _must_ believe in me."

"You've been… watching me?" you asked, shivering.

"Oh no. Not like that!" Jack said, taking a step forward and waving his hands in front of him. "What I meant is that I check on you! I wanted to make sure you weren't getting bullied!"

You laughed, walking back around the house towards the back door you'd come out of. Jack followed.

"Wait ____! Don't go!"

You turned around, fists balled and eyes narrowed. "I've been bullied my _entire_ life. Most of it for believing in _you_!"

"But…" Jack just looked at you, completely lost as to what to say. "There were no bruises. You didn't look hurt!"

"Bullying doesn't have to be physical, Jack!"

"What do you mean?" Jack asked.

"Words hurt as much as frozen snowballs. The only thing that made it okay was I knew I was right," you told him. You stuck your hand in your pocket and clutched the magenta bear. "And now you tell me that you were trying to make sure I wasn't bullied? Why don't you frost other people's windows?" you asked. "Why don't you make other people believe in you?"

"I…" Jack was at a loss. This was not how he had envisioned finally talking to you going. After saving Jamie and the other kids from the Boogie Man, he'd thought that this would be a piece of cake.

You chuckled coldly and turned away from him.

"Wait! Wait!" Jack did a flip and landed in front of you, blocking the way back to the door. "I'm not good at these things! I didn't think… I just. Nobody had ever believed in me before you!"

"Seriously? But what about the songs and the movies?" you asked.

"You don't have to believe in someone to tell stories about them," Jack replied.

"I guess…" You bit your lip and looked at Jack. "But still… why wait until now to show yourself?"

It was Jack's turn to chuckle. "That was an accident! You weren't supposed to see me."

"But… you were standing right outside my window!" you replied.

"I'm not exactly used to people seeing me! Just the snowballs I throw at them." He grinned again.

"So you started all those snowball fights!" You pointed at him accusingly, remembering all the fights that nobody knew who threw the first snowball.

"Uh, duh!"

You laughed. "So frosted windows and snowballs. What else do you do?" you asked.

He grinned and took a step closer, offering you a hand. "Let me show you~"

"You're not gonna… like… kill me, are you?" you asked, only half joking.

"Maybe with fun!" He laughed and grabbed your hand before launching into the air.

You screamed while the young man laughed. He looked down at you with sparkling gray eyes. Once the shock wore off, you looked up at him and gripped his hand tightly. Your eyes met and you smiled at him. He really was handsome, with just a few freckles over the bridge of his nose and perfect, white teeth. But his hand was cold in yours.

You looked down at the landscape below you. He was going further from your home than you'd though he would. The two of you passed high above several cities and farm land before frosted trees appeared below you. When he landed, the two of you were in the forest, near a lake.

"This is my home," he told you with a grin.

"It's beautiful!"

"Thanks!" Jack jumped gracefully out onto the frozen lake and held a hand out for you.

"No way. What if the ice cracks?"

Jack grinned. "I've frozen it clear to the bottom. It won't break. I promise."

After a moment, you cautiously took a step out onto the ice. And then another. Your feet slid apart, and you waved your arms around trying to catch your balance. With a huge sigh of relief, you steadied yourself and looked at Jack. The boy was trying his hardest not to laugh.

"What's so funny?" you demanded on him.

"You. On ice."

"Oh hush! It'd be different if I had ice skates," you told him, sliding your foot forward. Unfortunately, it didn't stop, and simply kept sliding. Your other foot followed suit, and you fell backwards.

Jack called out your name as he moved to catch you.

"Thanks," you breathed, looking up into his gray eyes. He smiled down at you and shook his head, like he was ridding himself of a laugh. He helped you stand up, but kept a hold of your hand as he pulled you around the lake. You laughed happily as he spun you in a circle like you were skating partners. And then he pulled you in closer and puts hands on your hips.

"I have a confession to make, ___."

"What is it?"

"I was scared to try and talk to you."

"Why?"

"I was afraid you didn't believe in me," he confessed, looking away.

"Jack Frost," you said, calling his attention back to you. "My friends tease me relentlessly about my obsession with you. How have you not noticed?"

"I'm always checking on you in passing. Never long enough to catch your conversations."

You laughed. "That's probably a good thing!"

"Oh?" Jack got that mischievous grin on his face. "Why's that?"

"Oh, you know. Girls tease each other. Like I've been told several times that I'm so obsessed with you that I should just marry you," you said as nonchalantly as possible, considering your position on the ice. Jack still had hands on your hips, and your faces were inches apart.

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Jack said, taking a step back. "Marry me?!"

It was your turn to grin mischievously. "Yup."

Jack had managed to regain his composure slightly, and came back to take your hand. His evil grin was back. "Well, I'm pretty sure that would require a kiss, first. Baby steps, you know?"

"Hold on, Ja–" you were cut off by cold lips pressing into yours. The shock of what was happening vibrated through your body, before you let yourself enjoy the kiss.

You put one arm around his neck, and his arms moved around your waist, locking you to him. His staff clattered to the ground behind you as you pulled yourself closer to the cold. When he broke away, you wished he hadn't, but rested your head on his shoulder, humming contently.

"That _is_ a good place to start," you told him.

He gave you a squeeze and chuckled. "Don't expect much more."

"Knowing you're real was good enough for me, Jack. This," you held on to his neck, and rested your ear against his neck. "This is so much more."


End file.
